A Rewrite Christmas
by AvalonReeseFanFics
Summary: A series of one shots, set in Christmas Past, Present and Future in the Rewrite Universe. Written as a gift for my guest Reader JP! Mostly Fluffy with a dash of angst. Rated T for mature subject matter. [Past] A look into Rowan's last Christmas in her world. [Present] A surprise Guest at Christmas Dinner. [Future] Christmas at the McGarrett house hold 8 years after season 9.
1. 1 Christmas Past

**So this is the Christmas Special that was won by my Guest Reader JP. JP wanted a Christmas Carol one shot. I couldn't quite get into the whole Christmas Carol as Five-0 characters, but I did come up with Three one shots, a Christmas Past, a Christmas Present, and a Christmas Future, instead that I hope you guys will enjoy just as much. So this story is dedicated to JP… you've always been one of my nicest readers and the one that I get excited to hear from. Not to mention you're the best encourager there is. So Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas to all my _Rewrite_ readers, I appreciate every single one of you. I hope you enjoy these stories and I'd love to know which one was your favourite!**

* * *

A Rewrite Christmas

 **AvalonReeseFanFics**

 _A/N: Alright, we got a little bit of a glimpse into Rowan's past. We're going to see what Christmas is like at her house, and yes this is Cannon, it did happen in her back story. We're going to meet some new people, hopefully you guys like it! Tell me what you guys think! Don't forget to tell me which one you liked best!_

1\. Christmas Past

 _Sweet Silver Stars_

* * *

Rowan awoke to snow cascading outside her window. The flakes were huge which meant soft snow, great for skiing. She wasn't up, she was lounging in the warmth of her bed, taking her time before she had to get up and be cold. Nothing was more comfortable than lounging under a heating blanket while the world took its time to come to you.

She stretched out her body, she basked in the soft light coming through her windows, she rolled around and wrapped herself up in the warmth as to not lose it. She watched the flakes fall, she listened to the sounds of her house and concluded she was the last one awake. Well, they could wait for her. They always waited for her.

"OI!"

Rowan groaned, but took the pillow that was lobbed at her to the face like a fucking champ. She didn't have to open her eyes to know it was Trevor who was attacking her that morning.

"Stop hibernating and wake up. I have pair of _Beat_ s I want to open up," he cried.

"I never said I bought you headphones!" Rowan snapped throwing the pillow at him. Trevor dodged the pillow and instead let it sail out into the hallway. "I love you. But not 500-dollar-Beats-by-Dre love you."

"I've been dropping mad hints that I wanted them for three months. Someone would have been smart enough to get them for me," he said sticking a tongue out at her. "Now hurry up or I'll open up your gifts for you."

He disappeared into the hallway as Rowan shouted: "You better not!"

She knew he wouldn't. But as his laughter hit her ears and she struggled to get on her ugly Christmas sweater and her reindeer slippers, as per Pierce Family tradition, she felt that panic she felt every time he used that threat on her since she was five.

"Mom!" she howled as she slid out into the hallway. "Don't let Trevor open my presents!"

"For god-sake the two of you are in your twenties. Will you stop acting like children!" her mother cried from where ever she was downstairs. Kay so her mom was going to be no help in this situation and knowing her dad he was in the garage tinkering with another one of his inventions. So, it was going to be up to her.

She was halfway down the stairs when she launched herself over the railing, landing neatly on her feet in front of Trevor. She quickly pushed him away before rushing towards the tree to protect her presents.

"Mom! Rowan jumped off the landing again!" Trevor shouted after her retreating back.

"I did not, it was just off the stairs," Rowan replied to his lies.

"For god sake, child, you just got your leg out of a cast and you're jumping off things? You want to break the other leg?" her mother chided. She came out of the kitchen carrying cocoa and wearing her own ugly Christmas sweater of bright red and muted navy blues.

"Kay, my leg has been fully healed for five months, if it can take triple flip jump, then it can handle me jumping from the stairs," Rowan said taking her mug from her mother and smile. "Thanks, momma."

Trevor was next to take his mug. "Thanks momma," he echoed adding a kiss on her cheek like the suck up he was. "Is someone going to get dad?"

All eyes turned to Rowan, as if she were the only one would could pull that man out of the garage. Sighing she put down her mug, she pointedly pointed a warning finger at Trevor and growled: "Don't you touch my presents," before she skipped over to the door that lead from the house to the garage. She poked her head in and found her dad in his own bright green and muted navy-blue ugly Christmas sweater.

"Dad it's time for presents," she called. His head whipped up, he had a pen marks in his stubble and pencils in his messy dark brown hair and fog on his glasses.

"Oh, hey there princess, I thought I heard trouble brewing," he said. Rowan shook her head, when anyone else said it they meant it in a bad way, but her father never meant it that way. "I'll be there in just a few seconds. I have to finish calibrating this."

"Can it wait, daddy?" she asked. "I wanna see if you like what I got you this year."

She put on her cutest puppy-dog pout that always melted her dad's heart. With a sigh he put down his screwdriver, picked up a discarded mug of what was probably cocoa and came towards her. When he got into the house, he put an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close.

"And I can't wait to see if you like what me and your mother picked out," he said. Rowan tucked her head into his shoulder. She had missed this.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

This was the first Christmas that she and Trevor had been home in two and half years. Having been dragged around the country in witness protection waiting until they could testify. Being witnesses to a string of bank robberies, being forced to drive for a pair of Russian siblings determined to take on the world and set up their family's mafia in Canada because her brother owed them millions of dollars in gambling debts, had taken them very far away from their family. Now that Roman and Irina Stepanov were behind bars, their witness statements were given in court and the Mafia officially disbanded and kicked back to Russia, Rowan and Trevor were finally free to be home.

Which meant the first Christmas dinner as a family in two and half years. And best believe Rowan was super excited for it. The Pierce family was treating this as a special occasion. Which meant fancy outfits under ugly Christmas sweaters and dates.

Rowan did not have a date, but she had a best friend. Sarah Ashley Isley had lived down the street from them since Rowan's family had moved to Victoria when she was thirteen. Following a certain… incident that Rowan liked to not talk about, that her family made a habit of pretending never happened. Sarah was probably the second thing she missed most when she was away. Sarah had been there when Rowan got off the plane in Toronto to testify. And there had been nothing Rowan and Trevor's handler, Malcolm, could do to keep her from jumping the line at security and hugging them both.

Sarah was such a fixture in the Pierce house that she didn't even have to knock. She let herself in and pounded right up to where Rowan was getting ready. They were even dressed up similarly. Rowan was wearing a velvet black dress, with her black H _ome Alone_ ugly Christmas sweater, while Sarah was wearing the same dress in a hunter green with a green ugly Christmas sweater all decked out like a Christmas tree. Complete with green tinsel, and small hanging ornaments.

She looked over Rowan's dismal attempt at putting on make-up and tsked at her. "What have you done to your face?"

"Okay, listen here Miss-the-next-famous-beauty-vloger, just cause my face doesn't look just like yours doesn't mean I've done it badly," Rowan snapped pointing her make up brush at her. She knew enough to be passable, but Sarah knew everything from perfect contouring to perfect winged eyeliner.

Sarah smiled at her. "Kay, you've got a good foundation, I'll do the rest, fix you up right," she said to her taking the make up from her and going to work.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone you know," Rowan reminded her.

Sarah, who was busy paying attention to what she was doing, just smiled at her and said: "You always gotta put your best face forward. Not to mention, Malcom's coming and you know how we feel about him."

Yes, there was a lot of bad blood between Rowan and Malcom, which meant that Sarah had bad blood with him in solidarity alone. As their handler, Malcom put a lot of effort into making sure Rowan and Trevor were safe. Trevor made it easier than Rowan did, mainly because Trevor was smitten but Rowan was not and she tended to be a bit of a holy terror when she was bored. And being in witness protection was almost 85% boring or more. That led Malcom to being very stern and frustrated all of the time.

He got so mad at her one time that he actually handcuffed her to a radiator. Coincidentally that was Malcom and Trevor's first big fight and first break up. They were living in Stockholm at the time, funnily enough, and as no one was allowed to leave the house Trevor and Malcolm made up quickly. The same could not be said for Malcolm and Rowan.

But he was _officially_ dating Trevor now, which meant they had to be nice. Well… she didn't have to be fully nice, she could still be snarky, but she wasn't allowed to be at her full capacity of mean. Rowan would have to pull her punches. She hated doing that. Mainly cause if she got mad enough she'd forget to do just that.

"I promised Trevor we'd be nice," Rowan reminded her.

"And I have already told you that you don't speak for me," Sarah answered absently.

"You better be nice!" Trevor snapped, the red _Beats_ Rowan had got him around his neck. He didn't have them attached to anything they were a fashion accessory at this point. Rowan was alittle worried he wasn't going to take them off at all. "Malcom went in to get himself tested for Evolet, you have to be nice."

Evolet Isley was Sarah's daughter and Rowan's god daughter. Now turning four, she had been diagnosed with a form of blood disease Rowan couldn't pronounce. Everyone got tested to see if they were a match, but no one was so far. Which meant some real drama was going to come down the way soon if Sarah had to tell Evolet's real father that she was his kid after all, and not his best friend's as she had told him… you know to save his marriage. It was a messed up situation and it was great that Rowan was back to help her navigate it.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder to where Trevor was glaring at her. "Fine. I'll be nice. But if he rags on Rowan he's getting the claws, you got me?" Sarah asked.

"If he rags on Rowan he's going to get dumped," Trevor answered and the disappeared down the hallway.

"He better follow through," Sarah snapped returning to Rowan's face. "I'm going to hold him to that."

"Uh… how is Evvie doing?" Rowan asked.

"She's with her dad and his parents for Christmas. She acts like she's feeling better than she is," Sarah answered. Not her real dad, the dad Sarah said was her dad but wasn't. It was hard to keep up, but only Rowan and Sarah knew the truth. For now. Rowan nodded and got a line of eyeliner down her cheek and had Sarah groaning. "Don't move you're damn face, woman!"

"Sorry," Rowan intoned, trying not to smile. "Can you fix it?"

"Of course, I can fix it," Sarah said. "Once I'm done with your eyes, I'll deal with it."

"Thanks," Rowan whispered. She had missed this. She really, really, really had.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Malcolm came into the house and the whole energy changed. Dinner was ready, everyone was in Ugly Christmas Sweaters, except Malcolm, who, even though he got the message, had refused to comply. He came in a nice button-down blue shirt, tailored black pants and even pointier shoes.

He stuck out.

Rowan's family was well-off, but they weren't that fancy. Her father, Trenton Pierce, was a well-respected Cosmologist researching the existence of alternate realties. He was always creating these new gadgets like Tony Stark, except they only proved the existence of some sort of proton that was connected to jumping between realities. He was currently working on a device that could latch onto something with energized protons and pull it through to him. Her mother, Roselyn Pierce was a philanthropist and a psychologist. She spent a lot of time writing books and running charities. This year's charity was for the Children's Hospital… in support of Evolet. But they weren't fancy. They were pretty down to earth.

Which was why everyone in the house was wearing ugly Christmas sweaters, her father was wearing reindeer antlers, Rowan and Trevor were in matching reindeer slippers, her mother had a Santa's hat and Sarah had elf ears and Rowan's paper crown from the morning. Yeah there was fancy dress underneath, but on the surface they were nothing but a bunch of goofballs.

Everyone was staring at Malcolm and he seemed to realized that he done goofed. Rowan and Sarah leant into each other and tried not to laugh. It wasn't funny, but it was typical of Malcolm, doing whatever he wanted and then feeling super awkward about it.

"Where's your sweater?" Trevor asked as he took Malcolm's coat to hang up.

"I didn't think it was a necessity," he hissed.

"I told you it was a necessity. We have ugly Christmas sweater parties. I told you. It's a Pierce family tradition," Trevor hissed.

"I thought that was just in the morning. Not during the actual Christmas dinner," Malcolm snapped back. "Besides you told me to come dressed up, what's the point of dressing up if I'm putting an Ugly Christmas sweater on?"

"Oh my god, you're ridiculous," Rowan said trying not to giggle. "We have extra, come on, we'll pick you out one that suits you."

As she walked past, she whispered: "I'll fix it," to Trevor who let his breath out in a shaky sigh. He was super worried about this dinner going well. It was the first time Trevor was bringing a boyfriend home. Of course, both their parents knew he was gay, but up until recently Trevor had only been dating closeted guys. Which made it hard to bring them over for family dinners.

She took Malcolm's hand and dragged him to her parents' room. She rooted through her dad's drawer and pulled out several options.

"I didn't really know, you know," Malcolm said to her.

Rowan pinned him with a dry look. "We told you. We were pretty explicit," she said. His glare darkened and she reminded herself that she had promised to be nice and tried to smile at him. "It's alright. We all know how you do with taking orders. Here, pick one and put it over top of your shirt. Okay?"

Malcolm nodded and Rowan left him to make his decision. Poor Malcolm. He was new to the whole gay life, he had come out to his parents, been sort of outed at work by an incident with her and Trevor and he was still coming to terms with that. He had no need to question his sexual orientation until he was spending day in and day out with Trevor and her. He often joked that Rowan's insanity was what drove him to men. She knew he was joking, or at least retaliating against her snarkiness but it still hurt.

Mainly because she was alone and the only man she was interested in was fictional. Ah Steven McGarrett. If he were a real person, she'd be all over that. Not that Alex O'Loughlin wasn't hot, but he was married and she was no home wrecker. And there was no guarantee that good only Alex was anything like the steamy, self-righteous, over protective Steven McGarrett. Ugh, that man just oozed sex. The shirtless episodes were always her favourites, followed closely by any episode where Steve pulled off an insane stunt. Nothing was hotter than a sweat drenched, blood flecked, crooked grinning, cocky and confident Steven McGarrett.

But where was she going to find herself one of those in real life? Huh? And even if she did, why would he want her? She wasn't a beauty like Sarah, or the life of the party like Trevorn, the only thing Rowan could do was skate, sing, bake, and sometimes, when the occasion called for it, turn into a complete and utter psycho bitch. Not good for landing your dream guy… even if he's fictional.

Rowan and Sarah helped set out the food, and by the time dinner was ready, Malcolm was back in the living room, wearing a green and red poinsettia themed sweater and talking it up with her father, as Trevor stood beside him. With the spread ready, everyone took their places. Her parents at either end of the table, Rowan and Sarah on one side, Trevor and Malcolm on the other.

They were part way through the meal when her father made the comment. One that no one expected, one that shut down the snark fest Rowan and Malcolm had gotten embroiled in, but not in the way that anyone had wanted. "It's so nice that Trevor made a new friend when he was away the last two years. But I think we both know you're really here for Rowan. Better make a solid move, flirting through sarcasm and thinly veiled insults will not make her aware of your intentions."

Everyone went silent. They stared at him. Her father thought Malcolm was interested in her? What the hell.

"Daddy… Malcolm and I… we don't get along," Rowan told him.

"Well I assume that it's because he can't articulate his feelings well, what is it your mother is always saying? That boys use, defense mechanisms to express their feelings… uh which one is it honey?" he asked his wife, but her mother was just staring at him with nothing short of horror on her face. Leaving poor ol'Trenton Pierce to figure it out on his own. "I think it's reaction formation. Either way, I'm assuming Rowan makes you super nervous because you're being terribly rude to her and I'm assuming it's because you don't know how to tell her like a normal human being. So are you too proud or just trying to deny it?"

"No, it's not like that. Malcolm's not mean to me because he likes me, he's mean to me because he doesn't like me," "—I never said I don't like you…" "—Shut up, Mal. Look, he's not here for me… he's not my… anything."

"Wait, so this contempt isn't an act?" Trenton asked. "What hell is your problem? If you don't like my daughter what are you hanging around you them so much for?"

Silence hit the table, all eyes were on them. Rowan didn't know what to say. Didn't her father know? Wasn't it obvious?

"Dad… I'm… I'm gay…" Trevor said. "Malcolm's my boyfriend."

"GAY?!" Her father thundered. "What the… why did… why are you only telling me this now? At dinner of all things. You trying to kill me with the shock?"

"Telling you now? Dad I told you ages ago!" Trevor cried.

"What? No, you didn't," her father snapped. "I think I would definitely remember you telling me you were into men."

"I did though. You said: _that's great_!" Trevor argued.

"When?"

"Five years ago. I came into your lab, you were working on those protons. You had you face glued to that ion reader and I told you then… you were super positive about it." Trevor said.

Oh god. Rowan knew what happened. Her father, when he got on those rolls, sort of lost touch with reality. He forgot birthdays, anniversaries, school plays, sometimes he even forgot to eat… or bathe. He must have been so into whatever he was doing at the time that he didn't realize what Trevor was saying.

"… That was you?" her father asked in a soft voice. "I thought that was Paul."

Or he didn't realize it was Trevor at all.

"Paul, your grad student Paul?" Trevor echoed. "You thought I was Paul?"

"Well yeah. I mean, I thought it was super weird that he chose to come out to me of all people, and he never mentioned it again," her father said in an absent tone as he obviously thought it over.

"Honey, you went to Paul's wedding last year," her mother reminded him with a frustrated sigh. Oh what her mother had to put up with.

"I said I thought it was weird, didn't I?" he cried.

Rowan glanced to Sarah who had taken all of this in with her. Now that there was silence, now that they had made eye-contact, they couldn't hold it in. They broke out in loud laughter getting nothing but glares from Malcolm and Trevor.

"It's not funny," he snapped.

But it was. Oh god was it funny. Rowan and Sarah tried to stop their laughter, but as soon as they clapped eyes again, they started up once more. Sarah laughed so hard she fell off her chair.

"Oh my god this is classic!" she cried from the floor. "Only a Pierce could come out to their father and not have him realize it!"

"Shut up, Sarah," Trevor snapped, but Sarah couldn't stop.

Rowan collapsed over her empty plate wheezing. _"He thought you were Paul_!"

Her father ignored them both and turned to Trevor. "I'm sorry, son. I still love you, even if you are gay. I swear, I'm just still a little hobbled from the shock. And a little bit because you chose to date a man who handcuffed your sister to a radiator."

"Why does no one ever acknowledge that I had to hand cuff her because we were in witness protection and she kept running off and getting herself into trouble?" Malcolm asked.

"You were briefed on Rowan's tendencies, sweetie," her mother said pouring herself another glass of wine. She clearly needed it. "You should have known better than to leave her to her own devices. Rowan has always had to have been kept busy. It was the only way to keep her from running wild, even as a child."

"You know that's the one of the main signs of a psychopath, right?" Malcolm snapped and the table went quiet, even Sarah on the floor stopped laughing.

Malcolm didn't know about the incident but the rest of the table did. Sarah picked herself up off of the floor, slammed her fists on the table and quickly snapped: "You, all six-foot-ten and what, 180 pounds of you, couldn't fucking keep track of Rowan? It was just the one fucking thing you were getting paid to do! Maybe if you weren't busy sucking Trevor's dick you would have done your job right."

Malcolm sat in the wake of that accusation his normally pale cheeks going a bright red, before he swallowed quickly, nodded his head and quickly got up. "I think it would be best if I left," he said stiffly. "Thank you for the lovely meal, thank you for letting me borrow one of your sweaters, and I'm sorry if this ruined your night."

"Thanks a lot," Trevor snapped to the table and then chased after Malcolm.

"Ohhh, that was a low blow," Rowan said to Sarah who was daintily sitting herself back down in her seat. "He doesn't know."

"Kay, well… I warned Trevor, didn't I?" she sighed. "He better follow through with what he promised."

But Rowan didn't want Trevor to break up with Malcolm. Yes Malcolm was rigid, he had no idea how to have fun, he was nothing but seriousness and bad jokes, but Trevor liked him, really liked him and the two were super happy together when Rowan wasn't ruining things for them.

"Dad," Rowan whined. "Do something?"

"I honest to god thought it was Paul, the whole time," he breathed out. "Everything makes so much more sense now."

"Dad!" Rowan whined just a little louder.

Finally, her dad jerked out of it. "Oh, sorry, give me a minute," he said hopping out of his seat. "Boys! Wait a second."

Rowan watched her father stop Malcolm from leaving, she couldn't quite tell what he was saying to them, but at least he hadn't left. Rowan glanced to her mother, and together they got up and approached the boys.

"I really don't have a problem," her father was saying. "I just had no idea."

"Your son is a figure skater," Malcolm snapped. "How did it not cross your mind even briefly that he might like guys?"

"Well… firstly, I don't think sexual orientation plays into the things one enjoys doing. Sarah used to love hockey, and she's as girly as they come," her father explained.

"Sarah is as vicious and violent as Rowan," Malcolm snapped.

"Well you're really not helping your case son," her father said just as Trevor snapped: "Why do you constantly have to rag on my sister?"

"We like you Malcolm," her mother said. "Despite your attempts to make it otherwise."

"It's true," her father said. "For almost three years, you spent day in and day out keeping our children safe…"

"Even though I made it hard to do so," Rowan added.

"And for that we will forever be grateful." Her mother finished. "Again, don't get me wrong. We like how you are with Trevor, from everything Rowan has told has, has showed us, you make Trevor really happy and we would love to have you as an addition to our family. But we love Rowan too…"

"Look. We don't get along. That's fine. We don't have to. But as long as you're with Trevor you're family. No matter how serious, how strict, or how much you dislike me. My parents don't want to choose, we don't want to make Trevor choose. We're home. For the first time we're home, we're a family again, and we want you to be a part of that. So stop being an ass. Stop making this about me and how much you don't like me. Just let us love you."

Everyone stared at Rowan, and then turned to Malcolm who actually looked like he might cry. She knew his parents had been less than supportive about his coming out. She knew that the great stoic Malcolm, who had bravely took on assassins and mass arm shootouts for them without flinching, was upset about the loss of his family. She was more than willing to share with him her family, even if he was still mad at her for getting him shot once.

Malcolm took a deep breath, he looked over all their faces, then to Trevor. "You really think I'm part of he family? When I don't fit in with you guys?"

"Don't fit in?" Rowan cried. "Look at us. Yes. We're well off, but what about us says we're normal? My dad believes in alternate realities so much he's looking for a way to prove it. My mom spends all her time helping other people. My brother drowns his depression in gambling and as you said I'm a psychopath. And you are an unfeeling, unsympathetic jerk wad who is a holding a grudge because I got you shot once!"

Sarah came up and put an arm around Rowan's shoulder. "And everyone calls me a pathological liar and a sex addict. You're going to fit in just right with us."

Malcolm half laughed. "I'm not holding a grudge over the getting shot, Rowan," he told her. "But get your story straight, you're the one who shot me!"

Her mother smacked her. "You never told me you were the one who shot him!"

"It was an accident!" Rowan snapped. "He thought we had a security breach so he gave me the gun and said shoot anyone who came in through the door."

"Yes, but not me Rowan!" Malcolm snapped.

"You should have specified," Rowan answered primly.

Her mother slapped her again. "You don't shoot people, Rowan," she snapped.

"I panicked!" Rowan complained.

Sarah just smiled at her. "That's our Rowan, when she panics people get hurt. Usually herself but it looks like you got the brunt of it this time."

Suddenly, as if they had the same idea, they all swooped in on Malcolm and entangled him into a group hug.

"Sorry, buddy, you're one of us now," her father said. "And we don't let go or give up on our family."

To her shock, Rowan looked up to find that Malcolm actually was crying. "Uh… thank you…" he managed to cough out. "Uh… can we… uh... can we go back to dinner now?"

"Sure thing. Put the sweater back on and come sit down. Rowan will go get dessert. She says it's your favourite," her mother said.

Rowan shot a glance to Trevor, who too was crying. He mouthed the words, _thank you_ to her, to which Sarah responded: "You're welcome." As if she were the one who had fixed things. Both Trevor and Rowan shook their heads and shared a secret smile.

Nothing was better than their family.

"Uh… you know… I don't hate Rowan," Malcolm said. "It's just her sassiness, I can't just not snap back if she's being sassy… you know?"

And then they all started laughing again.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Sarah hadn't wanted to go home and neither had Malcolm. So it was agreed they were staying the night.

And that was how they ended up in Rowan's favourite place in the house, sandwiched between Trevor and Sarah with Malcolm on the other side of Trevor. They were all in their pjs. Flannels and long thick socks. They were sitting under blankets and drinking the last of their hot cocoa.

Rowen's favourite place was the attic. Her father had turned it into an observatory. He said it was because he liked to look up into the night sky and imagine all the alternate possibilities swirling around up there, but Rowan liked to think he did it because his daughter was obsessed with twinkling sliver stars. It was nothing but glass walls and ceilings, all specially insulated to keep the heat in, so they could see the night sky. There was one spot, a spot he had made just for her that was smaller than the other part of the room where Rowan could pile up blankets and pillows. She would come here with a book and cup of tea on rainy days. She would come up on sleepless nights and stare at the stars.

It was nice to sit here in the silence, listening to the breathing of the people she cared most about. Loving how Trevor's head was on Malcolm's shoulder, a hand upon hand as they leant back. Listening to the way her house moved in its own way. While above them the night sky shifted and twinkled down on them.

"I hear someone is thinking of competing for a spot in Nationals this year," Sarah said.

Rowan nodded. "Yep, my skill, Trevor's routines. We'll be unstoppable," she answered.

"I can't wait to see my Come-back-best-friend rock Nationals," Sarah whispered dropping her head to Rowan's shoulder. "Your leg can take it right?"

Rowan absently rubbed the leg that had pins put into it to fix the bones she had shattered. By all means this should have ended her career in skating. But she loved skating too much to give it up.

"You should have seen her," Malcolm whispered. "In Paris. I took them skating. On the Sienne, under the Eiffel tower. She was… she was… magical. Like something out of a fairy tale."

"She looked like she was flying," Trevor finished.

"I liked Paris," Rowan whispered. "Skating under the stars and the snow fell."

"Our first kiss," Malcolm whispered sharing a long, meaningful look with Trevor who merely smiled at him.

"You'll fly again, Rowan," Sarah said. "Just you wait. If I know you. If I know what you're like. You'll fly again. You'll show them. You'll jump so high that you'll touch the stars."

"Just don't get lost up there," Trevor said with a laugh.

"Why? You not going to come get me if I get lost?" she teased.

"Course I would," Trevor answered, "You're my kid sister. I'd go anywhere to find you. That's what us Pierce's do. Never give up. Never let go."

Rowan smiled up to the stars. "Never give up. Never let go." She whispered to them.

And they glimmered. Twinkling down at her. As if they, too, had known that she would fly again. That she would get lost in the stars and it would be up to them to save her.

 **xx End**


	2. 2 Christmas Present

A Rewrite Christmas

 **AvalonReeseFanFics**

 _A/N: Kay this is not to Cannon at all. Not to my story and not to the series either. It's set before Wo Fat's accident and we're assuming Rowan's arm has been fixed, okay? This is literally just a fluffy piece filled with screwball antics, just like JP likes. So yes, I'm aware that none of this would ever actually happen, not with all the bad blood between everyone, but we're going to suspend disbelief just for this story, okay? This is a one-time thing, just for fun. Okay? Enjoy!_

2\. Christmas Present

 _What Christmas Means to Me_

* * *

Someone knocked and the door and Steve stopped sulking to go answer it. He expected Danny, who knew about his break up with Catherine and was on his way, he expected Catherine coming back to tell him she made and mistake, she wasn't leaving him for Billy on Christmas fucking morning, and she wasn't leaving him at all. He was not expecting Rowan.

Rowan with a box of gifts and bags of food.

"Can you help me?" she asked.

"Help you?" Steve echoed, already taking the box out of her arms.

"Yeah, those go under the tree, and I need to get all this stuff into the kitchen," Rowan said.

Steve stared at her. "What the hell, Ro?" he snapped, but he moved aside to let her into his house with all her bags.

"I talked to Danny, we were gonna do Christmas over at his place but there's too many people coming," she said. Oh really? They were doing Christmas dinner and they hadn't invited him? No just everyone else except him. "He said your plans freed up, and since we were worrying about room, I made the executive decision to have Christmas here."

Executive decision? What the fuck? "Uh… you made this decision without asking me?" Steve asked.

Rowan, who had picked up the bags and had already made her way to the kitchen to deposited them on his counter, stopped in her unpacking and stared at him. She had a look of surprise on her face he found absolutely adorable.

"Oh… uh… do you want me to… I mean, I guess we could…" she stuttered.

"It's fine," he said quickly, because honestly, this would be a great distraction. "Uh… just you know… ask me next time. Not Danny."

"Will do," Rowan said with a big smile as she went back to unpacking. She glanced up to Steve who was regrettably still standing there, box in his arms, smiling at her, because he had forgotten how much he loved having her in his kitchen. "Under the tree."

"Hmm?" he asked.

"The presents. They go under the tree, Steven," she reminded him and Steve nodded immediately turning to do just that.

When he had finished doing that and Rowan was done putting things away he turned to find her exiting the kitchen with another bag. "Uh… I guess since Danny didn't mention I was coming he also didn't mention it was a themed party."

"Didn't even know there was going to be a party in the first place," Steve growled.

Rowan blinked her eyes clearly confused. "What do you mean? He said he gave you the invite. I made one for you and Catherine. He said you both declined."

"He didn't tell us about a party, Rowan," Steve said, his voice dangerously low.

"Oh… uh… I'm sorry…" she whispered. "Well… you were invited. I swear."

Steve sighed. He didn't want to do this today. Not after the disastrous Christmas morning he had had. "You said there was a theme?"

"Mhmm, ugly Christmas sweater," she said sounding mightily pleased with herself. "I brought mine with me, so I can change here once I'm done with the meal prep and all that. I figured you may not have one and picked one up for you."

She offered the bag out to him and he smiled. She knew he didn't have a sweater, so she had got him one. It was sweet, that even though he didn't deserve it she still thought about him.

"And don't worry, it's not your gift. Just an added bonus," she said as he took it from her. Steve's eyes whipped up from the bag to Rowan. And she got him a present? Fuck.

"Okay, uh, are you good to cook here? I… uh… I have some things I need to get ready…" he said. Yeah, like getting her a goddamn present.

"Oh sure. I'll be fine," she said turning away from him. Steve watched her go, he couldn't help it. He had missed her. He had missed having her with him in the house. It was nice having her back. But it didn't change things… much.

When Danny got there, he was still going to be a dead man.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Steve and Danny walked through the mall quickly. Danny could tell that Steve was upset. He had been raging a mile a minute over the treachery Danny had subjected him to.

"I still can't believe that you did that," Steve snapped for the millionth time. "How could you have not told me that she was throwing a party?"

"Because, Steve. Rowan wants a nice Christmas filled with happiness and family traditions. And we all made the executive decision that you and Catherine would not be invited," Danny told him. It was the harsh reality but it was true.

Steve whirled around on him. "All?" he echoed.

"Yes, Steven, all of us," Danny echoed. "Look, I know it's not been a good day, what with Catherine breaking up with you on Christmas day, but we've all worked hard on this Christmas party, most of all Rowan, so try not to ruin it. Okay?"

"I don't want to ruin it, Danny," Steve snapped. "Now, can you help me pick a gift for her?"

Danny nodded and Steve sighed. "You talk to her all the time now, what… what does she want? You know… for Christmas"

Danny thought about it for a minute before saying: "Everything she wants we already got her."

"Great, thanks Danny. Helpful," Steve snarled.

"Come on. It won't be that bad. We'll think of something," Danny said.

Steve found himself distracted by something amazingly shiny. He turned to it and before Danny could stop him, he had walked towards the window.

"Do not under any circumstances buy that girl jewellery," Danny snapped and while Danny managed to pull Steve away there was a shine in his eyes that Danny couldn't shake, no matter what he did.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

The Christmas party didn't start when Danny and Steve came back, with a small black box to put under the tree. The two men watched as Rowan, roasted, basted, boiled and baked until Danny had to go get Grace and then Steve was alone with Rowan. They engaged in idle chit chat but nothing substantial. Rowan put aside everything to keep warm and then the two of them went to get ready for the party.

There was something intimate about the two of them standing in his washroom, both in Christmas sweaters, getting themselves ready. Rowan doing her make up and Steve trying to sort out his hair.

"So uh… what do you think of the sweater?" he asked her as she was putting her hair up in pigtails with poinsettia hair ties.

"It looks great," she said. "Ugly knit sweaters look wonderful on you."

Steve looked at her own. Black and white, with big chunky letters spelling out: "Merry Christmas you Filthy Animal." _Home Alone_. A good movie.

"And everyone has to wear one?" he asked.

"Yep. There are rules," she said. "Rule one: Ugly Christmas Sweater. Rule two: gift exchange around a tree with mugs of hot cocoa. Rule three: Christmas dinner with a dish from everyone. Rule Four: No guns."

"A dish from everyone?" Steve echoed. "I uh… I didn't…"

"You get to take credit for the turkey," she said quickly.

"And the no guns?" he asked.

"Well that's a relatively new rule," she admitted. "Since I'm dealing with law enforcement. I figured I'd need to stipulate that no firearms should be present at dinner."

She then eyed him carefully. "So, put the service pistol away."

Steve glanced down the holster he had put on by habit alone. He left to do that and as he did, he heard his friends begin to arrive. He thought about it, briefly wondered why the no guns was such a big issue, why Danny was so insistent on him behaving. And then carefully put it back on his belt, and hid it with his sweater.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Everyone was there. Danny and Grace. Chin. Kono and Adam. Max and Sabrina. Kamekona and Flipper. Duke and his wife. They all brought a dish of food, Kamekona brought two, a shrimp dish and a chicken for Rowan. And they were all wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. In fucking Hawaii.

Rowan was tending to the hot chocolate so it would be ready for after dinner and everyone else was waiting by the table. Where one chair was still waiting to be filled. Steve had a nervous niggling in the back of his stomach about it. He glanced immediately to Rowan who was putting the pot on simmer.

"You know Rowan, we're in Hawaii. Why are we wearing sweaters and drinking Cocoa? It's hot, Rowan," he asked.

Everyone at the table went silent almost immediately. Steve had said something stupid, clearly. He glanced around at everyone's surprised faces to where Rowan was now frozen at the stove.

"Uh… I thought you told him?" Chin snapped to Danny.

"Well… I guess I forgot," Danny hissed.

"What am I missing?" Steve asked.

"Well, Steve, to answer your first question. We have ugly Christmas sweater and hot cocoa because these are Peirce Family traditions. And because I'm not going to be home for Christmas, and probably won't ever be home again, I thought it be nice to share my traditions with my new family," she answered.

Aw shit. This was all a family tradition? Well wasn't that just a guilt trip in a half. Steve's face went bright red, his friends and surrogate family all chuckled around him. Why hadn't Danny told him this was all Pierce Family traditions? Why did he tell him that Rowan was trying to recreate Christmas at home?

His eyes found the empty chair at the table again and decided to change the topic. "Are we allowed to dig in?"

"No, we're waiting for one more person," Rowan said.

Oh, that was what he was afraid of. "Who are we waiting for?" Steve asked. All eyes turned to Rowan who was finally back at the table.

"You'll see," she said putting the turkey for him to carve in front of him. There was only one person he could think of that Rowan considered a friend or family, and he didn't think she'd be stupid enough to bring him to Steve's house.

"What do you mean? Rowan who are we waiting for?" he repeated. Someone knocked on the door and Rowan straightened, a smile dawning to her face while Steve jumped to his feet, frowning. "Rowan, who else did you invite?"

Rowan turned back to the table. "Now, everyone… everyone has to behave and be nice," she said, she then pinned Steve with a stern finger and an even sterner glare. "I'm looking at you McGarrett."

Rowan scampered to the door with Steve following after her because none of what she said sounded good for him. "Rowan who did you invite?" he thundered but came to a stop as soon as she opened the door.

Wo Fat stood there. Panic came over him and his hand went for the gun at his hip. But not just him, all the guns in the room were drawn as a response. Danny's, Kono's, Chin's, Steve's and Wo's and in the middle of it all was Rowan, furious and waving her arms back and forth shouting: "Hey, Hey, Hey!"

"I had one rule!" "—you had like eight!" "—shut up Steve! My most important rule was _no guns_!"

"I'm not gonna sit here and get shot. If he shoots me I'm going to shoot him back," Wo snapped.

She turned to glare at him. He was wearing a partially unbuttoned white dress shirt and grey lacks. He had a bag with a wine bottle popping out and a single expertly wrapped gift. "Where's your Christmas sweater?"

"I am not wearing that thing. It's undignified," he answered primly. He sniffed staring at her over his pistol.

"Put on the sweater," Rowan growled.

"I'm not wearing that hideous thing, Rowan," Wo Fat answered.

Steve didn't see what expression dawned on Rowan's face but it was enough to scare the daylight's out of Wo Fat, who took a step back with wide eyes. The voice that came out of her was nothing short of demonic though so he assumed that the voice matched the face.

"Put. It. On."

Wo Fat handed her the bag, took the sweater out and immediately put it on. As soon as he too was wearing a Christmas sweater, Rowan turned with a big smile to everyone who was still frozen watching the interchange. She offered out the bag he had come with and said: "Give me the guns! Safety's on and in the bag, come on."

She got the gun from Chin, from Kono, from Duke, from Danny and then she returned to Steve and Wo Fat who were stills squaring off. She offered the bag to them and they both glared at her. Neither willing to budge.

Steve finally saw the face that scared Wo Fat. Rowan's nostrils flared, her normally blue eyes went the color of a stormy night. Her lip curled in anger and she hissed: "Listen here. I am attempting to have a nice family Christmas and neither of you two are going to ruin it for me. So put your damn guns in the goddamn bag before I beat you with it!"

Wo Fat dropped the gun in the bag immediately. No questions asked. No complaints. He didn't even demand to put it in at the same time as Steve, he simply dropped it in the bag. Rowan's eyes turned to Steve and he realized that Wo Fat was putting the whole Ruining Christmas for Rowan on him. If he didn't comply, he'd be the bad guy. So, Steve dropped it in the bag.

Rowan's smile appeared on her face. "Thank you," she said.

"There's going to be a box under the guns," Wo Fat said. "That has the sesame balls you told me to bring."

"Ohhh really?" she asked. "Not just wine?"

"No. The wine is for me. I think I'm going to need it," he said shooting another glance at Steve.

"Okay. I'll get it uncorked for you. Go sit down, I saved you a seat beside me, on the other side of Danny," she told him.

"Williams?" Wo Fat hissed.

"Yes. He'll be nice. I made him promise," she said and then she disappeared to the kitchen. Steve followed her letting Wo Fat take his place among Steve's friends. Steve really didn't want to ruin this for hwe but at the same time what the fuck had Rowan done?

"Rowan," he hissed as he slid to a stop beside her. She was digging through his drawers for a bottle opener. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I wanted my whole family here for Christmas," she said.

"Rowan!" he snapped. "The man shot you. Killed my father. Is the reason my mother is AWOL. Has _tortured_ me, and you invited him to my house for Christmas?"

Rowan turned to him, the uncorker obviously not working for her. She handed him the bottle and he immediately went to work on it.

"Well, for starters, Victor Hess killed your father and your mother is avoiding _you_ and your questions…" she said, Steve stopped straining with the wine to glare at her and Rowan winced and lowered her eyes. " Look, it's not ideal," she whispered. "But I figured if the World War Two soldiers could stop fighting just for Christmas day, then you and Wo Fat could get along for one dinner."

Oh, fuck her. Fuck her and her stupid fucking guilt trips and her stupid fucking cute face. Why the fuck was she so goddamn cute.

"Alright fine. I will be nice, but if he says one thing. One thing Rowan. I will arrest him so fucking fast his head with spin, you got me?" he growled. The wine in his hands popped and Rowan squealed with delight and then hugged him. He wanted to hug her back but his hands were trapped between them and they were a bit busy with the wine.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she whispered into his ear and then she planted a big kiss to his cheek. Steve watched her skip back out to the living room, watched her take her seat beside Wo Fat and tell him that she had left the wine to breathe. Steve slammed the wine down to the counter and went out to carve the turkey. It was a good thing she was cute.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

After dinner came presents. Which involved everyone gathering around the Christmas tree, each picking up one present for them while Rowan got them mugs of hot chocolate.

Dinner had gone quite smoothly. Rowan had been close to him, had shielded Wo Fat from him, and luckily Wo Fat had said nothing to upset him. They told their favourite stories. Danny's about Steve's crazy stunts. Kono and Adam exchanged stories about how they met and didn't get along. Max told stories about medical school. Rowan told the story of the hostage situation she and Kono were in. Steve told Navy Seal stories that weren't classified. Duke told stories about Steve in his childhood. Wo Fat told only two stories. The one of Rowan in the car chase and how expertly she handled the car, and the one of how he rescued her from the guy with no hands. He then pointedly asked how often she got into situations like that, because he was certain she just did it with him to piss him off.

He was honestly shocked to find out it was a regular occurrence.

Rowan had not picked out her gift to open yet. Steve was angling for her to open his. But she was still in the kitchen pouring out the hot cocoa into all these Santa mugs she had bought. Coincidentally as grab bag gifts, everyone could take home their own mug. He noted that the one that Rowan was drinking from and the one for him was a matched set of Santa and Mrs. Claus. And that made him warm and fuzzy on the inside. That alone made up for Rowan inviting Wo Fat into his house.

Rowan smiled up to him. She picked up the last of the mugs to hand out and went to the couches to drop them off.

"You know, Ro, it's Hawaii… it's hot," Wo said as he took the mug from her. "A bit too hot for hot chocolates and Christmas sweaters don't you think?"

Around him everyone laughed and Rowan rolled her eyes. Wo Fat glared at them. "What's so funny?"

"They're the Pierce Family Christmas traditions," Danny told him.

"Fuck me. Are they really?" he asked. "Shit. Sorry Ro. Ignore me, I'll just suffer from heat stroke in silence."

"And Steve said the exact same thing before dinner," Kono told him.

Steve scowled and looked away as Wo guffed and smiled up at him. "Well damn McGarrett, I'm a sociopath, what's your excuse?"

"He's just insensitive," Danny said smiling into his mug and staring down and away from Steve who was glaring at him. God, why couldn't Danny ever be on his side?

Steve started forward, murder clearly in his eyes because immediately Wo Fat was on his feet, another gun in his hand. It took Steve less than two seconds to have his back up gun out of it's hiding place in his hands.

Everyone in the room froze except for Rowan who let out a cry a dismay and rushed out from the kitchen.

"Where did you get the guns! I hid them, I swear!" Rowan cried. She rushed forward snatching the gun from Steve and then leaning over to snatch the one from Wo Fat. She looked at them carefully before saying: "Are these spares?"

Both boys nodded and Rowan frowned. "No more guns!" she ordered. "If I see one more gun neither of you are getting Christmas dessert!"

"Oi! He came at me!" Wo Fat cried just as Steve shouted: "Not fair, he pulled the gun first!"

"I don't care who started it, no more," Rowan said. "There are children here!"

Wo Fat turned to where Grace was staring at him with wide eyes. "Wow, there really is a tiny human here."

"Be nice," Rowan said as he sat back down and as Grace as she came out from her father to stare at him.

Wo Fat continued to stare at her his eyes narrowed. "Rowan," he called. "The tiny human keeps staring at me."

"Just talk to her," Rowan called back from where ever she had gone upstairs.

"Uh… hello, tiny human. I am Wo. You can call me Mr. Fat," he said.

Grace half smiled and then said: "You don't look fat."

Snickers erupted from everyone around them and Wo Fat's eyes narrowed a fraction. "Rowan. I want my gun back. I need to teach the tiny human respect," he said as dryly as possible which got a resounding _no_ from everyone in the room. Wo Fat glared at all of them. "Traitors."

Rowan returned from wherever she had gone to hide the guns and picked up her mug and went to the couch. Steve picked up his mug and rushed after her. Rowan sat down beside Wo Fat and Steve sat on the other side of him.

Rowan turned to see the two boys sitting side by side and immediately said: "Nope. No, we're not chancing that. Come on, scoot over," she ordered and then sat herself back down in between them.

As soon as she had sat down she looked around at everyone and said: "Does everyone have a gift."

Everyone chorused yes, except for Grace who said: "You don't, Auntie Ro."

Rowan looked down. "Right, yes, except me," she said. She then eyed the tree, but Steve was ready.

He pulled his gift out and handed it to her. "Open mine," he said.

And heard an echo. He looked past Rowan to see that Wo Fat was also handing her a gift, and had said the exact same thing. Rowan blinked her eyes at them, clearly stuck. She looked back and forth at the two presents, similar in size and wrapping. Steve knew what she was stuck with a choice. Him or Wo Fat. That to him, at least, this choice was more about choosing between him and Wo Fat and less about choosing which gift she wanted to open. And Rowan knew it too.

"Open mine, Auntie Ro!" Grace called pulling up a bag and putting it in her lap.

"Yes! Yes of course. I'd love to open yours," she said grabbing it quickly. Wo Fat put his away, calm and cooly like it didn't matter to him whose gift she opened, and Steve did the same. What a save by Grace.

"Alright. Youngest open first, then we'll go from there," she said smiling at Grace who had picked Danno's gift to open. She ripped it open with a flurry of loud slashes and squealed.

And the gift opening ritual began.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Everyone had gotten things they were excited for. Chin got Hawaiian themed car decals from Rowan. Kono got a new wet suit from Adam. Adam got a new watch from Kono. Danny got a cookbook from Steve. Grace got that new doll she wanted from Danny. Steve got a subscription to Guns and Ammo also from Danny. Max got some limited-edition doll from Chin. Sabrina got a small diamond necklace from Max, a diamond, he boasted, was created from a lock of Sabrina's hair. Kamekona and Flipper got each other the same thing, which was coupons to the shrimp truck. Duke and his wife exchanged gifts too, which both turned out to be the type of coffees they both liked. Rowan had received a stuffed Tiger from Grace, and a letter that told her that a donation to the World Wildlife Fund had been made in her name. And Wo Fat had gotten a book. A first edition of Treasure Island from Rowan.

The fact that Wo Fat had smiled when he saw it was a Christmas Miracle.

Apparently, that was only the first round. The next step in a Pierce Family Christmas was to open Christmas crackers and then eat dessert. Which meant making more hot chocolate for those who wanted it or serving, tea, coffee or beer for the men who wanted beer.

Steve had gone into the kitchen to see how Rowan was faring, but it wasn't Rowan who was in the kitchen, it was someone else. Steve stared at Wo Fat who had his hand in a box of cereal staring at Steve with huge eyes of surprise while Steve just stared back at him blankly and then asked: "Looking for our guns?"

"…yes…"

"Here, let me help," Steve said. And together they quietly went about searching the kitchen. Which was how they found themselves shoulder to shoulder, elbow deep in the pull-out freezer.

"HA!" Steve half cried, pulling a box of blueberry waffles out of the bottom. "She thought I wouldn't look here."

He pulled out two hand guns and then handed one to Wo Fat. It was a nice 6.3 mm Baby Browning pistol with a mother of pearl inlay on the handle. Steve appreciated the renaissance engraving on it for a second before handing it back to him. "Nice piece, I like the pearl."

"Yes, it's mostly for decoration, but it still shoots well," he said. "Bullets have to be specially made, but it's worth it."

"Huh," Steve said eyeing his SIG-Sauer P226 pistol. "Mine's just a service pistol."

Wo Fat made a nose of appreciation, and said: "There's nothing wrong with a service guns. They're the bread and butter of the arms dealing world." When someone suddenly cried out and snatched the gun out of Steve's hand.

"Hey!" Steve cried turning on Rowan who was already reaching over him to where Wo Fat was holding out his gun for her to take. "You don't snatch guns from people Rowan that's how people get shot."

"That's true. We learned all about that when you accidently nearly shot Juan," Wo Fat reminded her.

Steve turned on him. "You let her handle a gun?"

"Okay, listen here, it was an unloaded gun with the safety on. And she got a hold of it and all of a sudden, it's loaded and the safety's off," Wo Fat said. "You got the tutorial and the manual on how to deal with her, I got nothing! I had to learn on the fly."

"You think I got a manual? Look at her! It's common sense! Why the hell would you give her a gun?" Steve argued.

"That's it. No dessert," Rowan snapped. Which got a chorus of _aww_ s from Steve and Wo before Wo Fat said… "Wait, I don't like dessert why am I upset?"

"Yours was specially made with bourbon," Rowan told him and his face fell.

"Goddamn it McGarrett! Why weren't you watching for her?!" he shouted whacking Steve's shoulder.

"This is not my fault!" Steve snapped. But Wo Fat merely smacked his shoulder again which caused the two of them to get into a slap tousle and for Wo Fat to shout: "Give me my gun Rowan! He's not fighting fair."

Rowan shook her head and walked away leaving the two grown men to roll around on the floor.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Dessert was served, which was also served to both Wo Fat and Steve despite Rowan telling everyone that they didn't deserve it. Well, she wasn't heartless. Nor did she not slave over the unsweetest dessert for the only person at the table who didn't like sweet things, for absolutely nothing. While the others tucked in and filled in the silences with comfortable conversation. Wo Fat got up and headed back to the kitchen.

Rowan knew his quotient for group activities, especially this kind of activity, was reaching its max. She followed, knowing that he would probably try to duck out. She did indeed find him going out the backdoor, so she quickly followed after him.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked even though she knew it wasn't too soon for him.

"Uh… yeah…" he said. "Not that this wasn't great… but… uh…"

"No, no, I get it," Rowan said. "Just wanted to say good-bye, that's all."

Wo Fat turned, but instead of hugging her he was offering her the small present she hadn't had a chance to open yet. Rowan took that time to open it then, with Wo Fat watching her. Inside was a watch. The astronomical watch she had said she always wanted. The Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Planétarium timepiece was one of the most expensive watches out there but it was also the most stunning.

"Oh, oh, Wo I can't accept this. This is too expensive," she said.

Wo Fat shook his head. "Course it's not. It didn't cost me a dime." He carefully lit a cigarette as Rowan stared at the watch in her hands. How could he get something this expensive and not spend a….

"You stole this?" Rowan hissed.

"No," he answered primly as he took another drag on his cigarette. "I had someone do it for me."

"Wo," she groaned and he threw the cigarette down and crushed it with the toe of his shoe.

"I know. I know how you feel about stealing. But I also know how you feel about that watch and all things planetary related," he said. "I also know how much you've been missing your parents and I thought this might cheer you up. I also figured it might get me a little further out of the doghouse."

Oh, it was beautiful, just as she knew it would be. The little planets already making their way either slowly or quickly across the dial. Now that it was in her hands, she didn't want to let it go.

"Oh, don't look now, but we have an audience," he said. "Stalker at six o'clock."

Rowan turned her head back and forth. "Behind you, Rowan, look behind you," he sighed and Rowan scowled at him. He knew she was bad at the whole direction by clocks, and by north and south and what not, she didn't know why he felt the need to continue talking to her in such terms.

When Rowan did turn she found that Steve was at the kitchen window, his blue eyes boring into them. Rowan waved to him and he suddenly began to blink wildly as if realizing he had just been caught staring.

He turned, the pot of hot chocolate in his hands and bumped into Danny who came out of nowhere. The hot chocolate went everywhere, but mostly all over Steve.

"Ohhh…. You better swoop on in there. Captain America just had an accident. You better go save him," Wo Fat said.

Rowan winced. "I don't know… you know he's with…"

"They broke up today," Wo Fat said and Rowan turned to him more than a little surprised. "What? I don't care what he's doing with his cases, but I was interested in his relationships… you know… for you… not for me. For you. Sources report they broke up today, left him for her new boss and ex-boyfriend, William Harrington."

Whoa, Billy? The cute, wasn't a threat, Billy? Rowan thought about that for a moment, so that was why his plans fell through that morning. She watched Steve storm off, no doubt upstairs to get out of his soaked sweater. "If you wait for me here, I'll get the other gun I confiscated off of you…"

"Already got it," he said fishing out of his concealed holster and waving it in her face. "You hid it behind your books. Not a good place to hide things Rowan. It was the first place I looked. I also slipped Steve his, I have a feeling he felt naked without it."

Rowan just scowled at him. Wo Fat pulled her in for a hug. "Merry Christmas, kid," he whispered. "Go get your sailor."

Rowan kissed his cheek and then ran off. She stopped only at the tree to pick up two gifts and then she rushed upstairs to find Steve. She found him in his room, stripped down to the waist. Rowan found herself paused in the doorway staring at the planes of his chest. Steve turned to stare at her and Rowan forced herself to look away from his abs and to his face.

"Uh… are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, uh… why are you up here?" he asked. "You… uh… you were looking cozy out on the porch with Wo Fat."

"Yeah, I opened his gift," she said softly.

She had more to say but Steve cut her off. "Yeah, a very expensive stolen watch. I uh… I heard…"

"Spying on me, hmm?" she asked walking closer to the bed and bending down to pick up the drenched sweater. "I guess you'll have to wear a regular sweater now."

"You're not going to keep it are you?" he asked her, he already had a new tee-shirt to put on under whatever they were going to choose, but instead of actually putting it on he was clenching it in his hands.

She looked down to the watch she couldn't resist strapping to her wrist. She didn't want to give it back. She liked how it looked on her. "Do I… uh… do I really have to give it back?" she asked glancing up to Steve. "I mean, I know it's stolen, but I've wanted this watch for forever, it's just… you know… insanely expensive."

Steve looked down to it and she held it up to him. "See, it tracks the planetary movements. Isn't that cool?"

Steve pinned with her a dry glare and she lowered her wrist. "I guess… I guess I could make him tell me where he had it stolen from and then we can give it back…" she whispered.

Steve sighed and finally shrugged on the white undershirt he had in his hands. "You want to keep it, keep it. I won't tell anyone," he sighed.

Rowan smiled, even though he was no longer shirtless. "Uh… thanks. Uhm. I was thinking… before we went back downstairs… that maybe… you'd like to open my present for you?"

She offered up the first box she had picked up. The one she had carefully wrapped. Steve looked at it. "Yeah, uh, you know I have one for you too…"

Rowan showed him the other box she had. A small daintily wrapped box with her name on it. "Already got it."

Steve took the box from her. He seemed so sad and she couldn't figure out why. Was he really that upset that she had invited Wo? She knew there were enemies but they had actually gotten along quite nicely that night. She was really surprised. Or was he maybe sad about he and Catherine breaking up?

She found herself standing and just watching as Steve unwrapped his gift from her. It wasn't as special as it could have been, but she hoped he liked it anyway. Steve got the box open and then just stared at what was inside. He carefully pulled out the white and blue jersey sporting the large number 12.

"Is this a Tom Brady jersey?" he asked. She knew he already had one she could see the confusion on his face, and heard the disappointment in his voice. He was clearly not sure what to say to her, especially since he knew that she knew that he already had a Brady jersey to wear to root for them when the Redskins weren't playing.

"Turn it over," she said.

Steve did it and gasped. "Oh my god!" he cried.

"You like it? I had to fight a giant football fanatic for it in a black Friday crazy sale," she said.

"It's signed!" Steve cried looking up to her with shock on his face. Probably because the thing should have been framed, but whatever. He could frame it himself if he didn't want to wear it.

"Yep. I wouldn't have taken on a guy three times my size if it weren't," she told him. "Do… do you like it?"

"You got me a signed Tom Brady jersey and you're wondering if I like it?" he cried. Rowan shrugged and he pulled her in for a hug. Those delicious muscles under her fingers tips setting her body on fire with the urge to dig her fingernails into him. "Of course I love it… Give me this back…"

He snatched the gift for her out of her hands and Rowan yelped. "Hey! That's mine."

"No, no I'm going… I'm going to have to return it," he said. "Get you something better."

Rowan danced around him trying to get the gift back from him. Steve lifted his hand up above his head so Rowan couldn't snatch it from him. He was completely smirking, but he was serious. He just liked having Rowan on her tippy toes using his shoulder to try and pull herself up his body to reach, which she could not because the man was so tall and his arms were long muscly things. "I'm sure I'll like it, Steven, give it to me."

"No. I didn't have enough time to get you something special. It should be a thoughtful gift… like what you got me and… as stunning as what Wo Fat got you," he said in a small voice.

Rowan paused and really looked at him. Did he think that she thought price mattered? "Is this about he cost?" she asked. Steve winced and looked away. "Well, cost isn't what was important. Wo Fat stole this, firstly, and he did it because I mentioned once that I had always dreamed of getting this watch cause… you know… I love galaxy things. But you know me better than Wo Fat, and I'm certain that what ever you got me will be just as great."

Steve half smiled. She knew it was because she said he knew her better. He took great pride at being the one who knew her better, she knew that and it was enough for him to drop his guard a bit.

Rowan jumped up onto the bed, making her tall enough to snatch the box out of his hand. She then bounced across the bed as Steve lunged after her to get it back. He got a hold of the back of her sweater and managed to pull her back to his chest but it was too late. She had torn that wrapping paper up and even though he fumbled with her hands, his breath hot beside her ear as he struggled with her, she still managed to get it open.

Steve froze and so did Rowan. It was a simple gold chain with a simple gold shell on it. About a quarter big. It looked just like the kind of shell that Ursula used to contain Ariel's voice.

"It's not much," he whispered, his trembling fingers coming forward to the pendant. He pulled on something and it opened revealing an inner gem, a fire opal. Her favourite stone. "But on the inside… there's Ariel's voice. Well not really, but I thought that was what it looked like and that… you know… you might like it. Looking at what everyone else got you… what you got me… it was… it was stupid."

It was a _Little Mermaid_ thing. He had found her a _Little Mermaid_ necklace that was elegant and had her favourite gem in it and he didn't think it would be good enough. Rowan threw his arms off of her and turned around. She was taller than him, but not by much.

"I love it," she whispered. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he smiled at her and asked: "Yeah?"

She kissed him instead of answering. Pressing her lips to his. If Steve had any reservations, he didn't voice them. His hands came to her side and pulled her closer to him. They kissed silently, her heart racing, her fingers intertwining in his hair while his fingers dung into her back to push her closer and closer. She wrapped her legs around his waist, slowly and deliberately taking her weight off of the bed and onto him. Steve took it with no hesitation, straightening his spine and yet holding her up as if she were the lightest of packages.

"Uh…" he managed to get out, almost breathless, his eyes still closed, his lips still interested in kissing her. "Uh…. Alex?"

"We broke up a few weeks ago," she whispered against him.

"Ah, good, me and Catherine…" he started only for Rowan to say: "Broke up today, yes, yes I know. I hear she's with Billy, good for her."

Steve smiled against her lips. "Yes. Good for her," he whispered. "Good for me too, cause now I get something even better for Christmas."

"Yeah that Patriots jersey is pretty great," Rowan said as she grinned cheekily down at him.

"I meant you, silly girl," he whispered and Rowan chuckled.

"Yeah. I know," she said. "If you're lucky, later I'll let you unwrap me… you know… as a separate gift."

Steve smiled widely at her. "Merry Christmas to me."

As he kissed her Rowan imagined his face when she told him that unwrapping him was going to be part of her Christmas present too. She smiled at the thought. _Yes. Merry Christmas indeed._

 **Xx End**


	3. 3 Christmas Future

A Rewrite Christmas

 **AvalonReeseFanFics**

 _A/N: This is actually Cannon for my story. So this chapter will contain spoilers, not by much but yes… spoilers. It's a little look at their happy ending, and it includes some characters you may not have met yet. So if you don't want spoilers don't read this chapter! But if you do… GO FOR IT! I promise it's filled with fluff… and just a little angst, cause come on guys. This is me. The Queen of angst. But it's mostly fluff. I promise._

3\. Christmas Future

 _All We Want for Christmas_

* * *

The sun barely peaked over the horizon when a pair of screaming projectiles landed on the McGarrett bed. Both Rowan and Steve bolted up groaning as their children chanted "It's Christmas" and jumped up and down on and around them.

They both flopped back down, check the time on their phones. A glaring 6am stared back at them.

"Your children are awake," Steve grumbled to her.

"You helped make them, Mr. McGarrett, and in the event of a divorce they are legally half yours," Rowan grumbled back. She grunted as her youngest jumped on her stomach. "Royal, watch it."

"Sorry mommy," she cried and then jumped off of her and right onto Steve who groaned out his daughter's name which was followed by a: "Sorry daddy!"

"We've got our Christmas sweaters on. Can we open gifts now?" their eldest, Sterling, asked.

"Buddy, it's the crack of dawn," Steve groaned.

"But it's CHRISTMAS!" Sterling groaned.

"Yeah, and we never know when your phone's gonna ring," Royal complained.

Rowan rolled over, her face burying into Steve's arm. "Oh, she's got you there, Captain."

"Okay, fine, we'll get up," Steve sighed and the children broke out in loud cheering.

"Guys, guys," Rowan cried as Steve hushed them. "You guys are gonna wake up Nahele, you know he's jetlagged."

"No need to worry about me," Nahele said from the door. He too was wearing an ugly Christmas sweater, a Star Wars themed one that Rowan's mom had specially ordered for him. He had flown in from BC the night before, where he was attending Law school at University of British Columbia. He lived in what used to be Trevor's room with her parents, who loved to have him. By all means he should have been tired but he looked alert and happy. "I've been up since they started screaming."

"Sorry sweetie," Rowan said to him as Steve lifted up a hand and said: "Sorry bud."

"It's fine. Come on guys. Let's go get the cocoa ready for the grown ups," he called to the kids who cheered and launched themselves off of the bed.

As soon as they were gone Rowan groaned and draped herself over Steve. "Why did we agree to this?" she asked them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. This was not my idea. You're the one who wanted kids Mrs. McGarrett," he reminded her.

"Uh excuse you, your unsafe sex practices are how they got here, Mr. McGarrett," she snapped. She pulled herself up and planted a soft kiss to her husband's lips. "Come on, Captain, we got a Christmas morning to attend. And I call dibs on the _Home Alone_ sweater."

"Aw come on, you never let me use wear the _Home Alone_ sweater," Steve complained, grabbing her before she could get out of the bed, pulling her towards him so he could trap her under him and cover her in kisses.

Rowan squealed underneath him, hugging him close and reciprocating his own kisses until the two were entangled and practically panting for each other.

"You better be careful Steve," she whispered to him. "You know what the kids are like when it comes to us and quickies. The door's definitely not locked, or closed."

Steve kissed her leisurely before smiling down at her and whispered: "Then let's be quick… and very… very… quiet."

Now that she could do.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Christmas at the McGarrett house was a lot like Christmas at the Pierce house. Well the Christmas she remembered from her world. They all wore ugly Christmas Sweaters and drank cups of hot cocoa while they opened gifts. Afterwards the kids would play with their new toys, Nahele and Steve would throw the pigskin around and Rowan would make dinner. Then everyone would come over. This year they would be having all the usual people coming, like Danny, Eric, Grace and Charlie, and Grover and his family, Jerry, Kamekona, Flipper, and of course Junior, Tani and Noelani. This year her family couldn't make it, but they would be exchanging many videos and pictures. Doris was still missing with Wo Fat's father, well not really but they were still unable to fly without the worry of being detained. Chin was obviously still over on the mainland with Sarah, Abby, and Kono, who was gratefully back together with Adam. With Wo Fat dealing with the birth of his third child, he and Jian Hui were obviously staying in Japan this year too. Marry, Matt and Joanie were celebrating their sixth Christmas together in California. All leading to a smaller than usual group this year, but a group she was grateful to have none the less.

And while Rowan loved cooking a banquet for her family and friends, she loved nothing more than sitting in the basking glow of her family, watching Sterling, Royal and Nahele open their presents with Steve sitting beside her, an arm around her shoulders.

Rowan came down the stairs, with a foolishly grinning Steve on her heels to find Nahele doling out mugs and the two younger kids making their way to tree carefully carrying their own mugs.

"Thanks baby," Rowan said as she took her Mrs. Claus mug from him.

"Anything for you mom," he answered as he handed a mug to Steve.

"PRESENTS!" Royal screamed jumping up and down on the couch.

"Hey! Take it down a notch, princess," Steve said after taking a gulp of his hot Cocoa. "You're going to wake up everyone on Hawaii at this rate."

Royal blinked her big baby blue eyes up at her father who melted like he always did. And while Royal stopped screaming, she didn't stop bouncing and Steve did nothing to stop her, but smiled at her instead. Like the proud, wrapped-around-her-finger father that he was. Royal was two years younger than Sterling and was a complete Daddy's little princess. Which was not always a good thing seeing as she was essentially Steven McGarrett in a six-year-old girl's body, complete with his aggressive temper and ability and desire to pull insane stunts. She had her long light brown hair up in pigtails, with a Disney themed ugly sweater on that went down to her knees as she wanted to grow into it.

Sterling, on the other hand, was an no nonsense eight-year-old and their eldest. He had a fascination with music just like Rowan did and was very much a gentle soul. Also a problem, because he wanted to be exactly like his father and he was never going to be equipped for that kind of life. Luckily, he was a mama's boy, also just like Steve was. His dark brown hair had obviously not been combed and there was a sleep in his blue eyes that he kept trying to rub out with the sleeve of his batman ugly Christmas sweater which fit him just right.

Both her children had the trademark Peirce blue eyes.

"Okay, does everyone have their mug of cocoa?" she asked.

"Yes," came from her from all around the house. She wanted to say: "Good," instead she had Sterling ask: "Hey mom! Why are we wearing sweaters and drinking hot cocoa in Hawaii?"

Rowan pinned them all with a dry glare as Steve, Royal, Sterling and Nahele all said: "IT'S HOT!" She rolled her eyes. Every year, every year they asked the same question and every year Rowan said the same thing.

"Because it's a Pierce family tradition." And Steve would always add: "And now it's a McGarrett tradition too."

They all gathered around the Christmas tree, Rowan went and found one present for everyone and handed it off to the designated person and then sat down beside Steve who was waiting to drape an arm around her shoulder.

"Alright, youngest to oldest this round," she said so Royal and Sterling wouldn't argue. Royal crowed with happiness and Sterling rolled his eyes. They were in the arguing stage of their relationship, just like she and Trevor had been at their age. She just had to make sure it didn't come to blows, because if it came down to a fight, Royal would win. She wouldn't fight fair. But she'd win. Then blink her big blue eyes at Steve and get out of trouble.

Royal started on unwrapping but before she could even get down to the actual present Steve's phone rang. Everything in the living room went quiet. All eyes went to Steve who looked panickedly at all of them before getting up to get the phone he had left in the Kitchen.

That one was just a Rowan rule. No phones at the unwrapping. They could all take pictures later.

"Don't dad," Royal cried. "It's Christmas!"

Her cry was seconded by Sterling, but Steve could never resist the siren song of a Five-0 case. He answered quickly and gruffly and then listened. Rowan saw the tension in his shoulders. She knew that the phone call wasn't Mary, or his mother calling to say Merry Christmas. Before he even could turn to tell them that, Royal had her big tears out.

"You can't go to work! It's Christmas!" she shouted at him before he could say anything. Steve turned his panicked and pained eyes to Rowan, clearly distressed. He could never tell Royal no and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

"Yeah dad, it's Christmas," Sterling whined. He pouted at his father, his lips quivering like he might cry. "Don't you want to stay with us?"

"Of course I want to stay with you," Steve sighed. "Of course I do. There's no where else I'd rather be…"

"Then don't go. Don't go, Daddy, don't go," Royal cried furiously rubbing her tears away and sniffing up a storm. She had learned one thing from Rowan, and that was how to master the guilt trip.

Steve winced, clearly in quite a bit of pain. "I don't want to go, but I have to. Something bad has happened and Daddy has to go fix it, okay?"

"No. You promised!" Royal sobbed. "You promised we'd have Christmas!"

Oh she had him there. Steve had, in fact, just yesterday, promised that this Christmas, unlike the last three Christmases, he would not be pulled in to work. What was he going to say now?

Rowan watched her husband falter. His mouth opening and closing like a fish on land.

Sterling slumped back against the couch with a sigh and glared at his crying sister. "I told you so," he snapped primly. "I told you he'd go to work."

Royal threw down the present in her hands and shot to her feet. "It's not fair! You love Hawaii more than me!" she shouted at her father and then ran away.

"Royal?!" Steve cried outraged but he didn't chase after her.

"Well you do!" Sterling snapped, placing his own present down neatly and then calmly walking away. Steve watched him go with shock and pain on his face.

He put his hands on his hips and glared down at Rowan. "Can you believe that?"

Before Rowan could say _yes_ , Nahele stood up and said: "Yeah. Not gonna lie dad, but this sucks. I came all the way back from BC to see, not just mom and the kids, but you. And now… well, you're not going to be here."

He got up, carefully taking his mug and heading towards the stairs. "Where are you going?" Steve cried.

"Back to bed. No point in being up, now is there?" Nahele shot back and then he too was gone, leaving just Rowan and Steve alone in the living room.

"Way to go, Commander, you killed Christmas," she said, sighing as she got up. Steve put his hands on his hips and groaned at her.

"Oh god, not you too," he snapped.

"Four Christmas in a row, Steve?" she said to him. "You had to expect the kids to revolt. Especially your little princess."

"I don't control the crime on Hawaii, Rowan," Steve snapped. "I can't help it if people decide to do shitty things on Christmas."

Rowan returned her mug to the kitchen and then turned her dry glare onto him. "You could have easily sent someone else. Like Tani and Junior. Sooner or later you're going to have to hand the reigns over to them. You're getting too old for this."

Steve glared at her. He hated it when she reminded him of that. Rowan sighed. There was no use arguing on Christmas, Steve was going to go despite what anyone said or wanted. And knowing her reckless husband she didn't want could be their last conversation to be a negative one.

She came out of the kitchen and put her arms around Steve's neck. Immediately his hands were off his hips and wrapped around her as she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I know," she whispered to him. "I wish I didn't, but I understand. Just… you know… just be careful. And be safe. And… well… come home. Just… come home. In one piece. Okay? I don't want to have to take the kids to the hospital for Christmas cause you did something stupid again."

Steve smiled into their kiss, pulling her close and burying his face into her neck. "I will. I… I promise to be careful. Okay?"

Rowan nodded to him, he pulled his head out of her neck and she cupped his cheek in her palm. "I'll talk to the kids. I'll… uh… I'll try to calm them down, but… uh… they kinda have every right to be mad at you."

"I know. I know… I'll think of something to make it up to them," he whispered. "And to you."

Rowan kissed him again. "Mmm, you better Sailor. You're not out of the doghouse yet."

They kissed for a few minutes longer before Steve had to let her go to get ready to leave. Rowan looked around at the remnants of Christmas morning with a heavy sadness and disappointment hanging on her. How was she going to fix this?

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Danny came to pick Steve up, with a very unhappy Grace and Charlie in tow. They had long since stopped arguing about Danny taking a case on Christmas and now his only hope was that Rowan would watch his kids so they wouldn't be alone on Christmas day.

Grace didn't even knock on the door, she just opened it up and let herself in. Before Danny could get inside he could hear Rowan greeting her. She didn't sound surprised at all.

"Nahele's upstairs, as are the kids. Nahele might be sleeping but I know the kids aren't," she said. Charlie ran off to see his favourite would-be-cousin Sterling, who he was never too old for, despite the seven-year age gap and Grace took a mug of cocoa for herself before heading up to see Nahele.

When Danny came in Rowan handed him a travel mug, no doubt filled with hot cocoa for him, and handed him a paper bag, probably filled with treats. "I have a bag for everyone," she said pulling a tote bag from behind the counter and handing it to him. "It's up to you to make sure Steve doesn't eat them all and you guys share."

Ah, she had made her family's famous pepper cookies. Which were just Estonia Gingerbread cookies. Another Pierce family tradition that was picked up by her mother when she did a year abroad in Estonia. One Rowan continued. The pepper cookies only came around once a year and they were a hot commodity within the Five-0 family. She even sent them off to Kono and Chin every year.

"I'll guard these with my life," he said as solemnly as he could. "Uh… how are the kids holding up?"

"Royal through a royal fit," Rowan said. "Even the usually calm Sterling was upset. But can you blame them? Fourth Christmas in a row?"

Danny nodded. Yes it did suck. This was not a good habit to have, having to be away every Christmas. At least he wasn't the only one in the dog house. Danny wondered how Steve was handling the disappointment of his little princess. Probably not well.

"What's this about Danny?" Rowan asked in a soft voice. "Steve wouldn't tell me."

"They found evidence of an active terrorist cell on the island, with evidence that supports the theory of a possible attack later today. They've called us in to help stop it," he answered. He probably shouldn't have. He didn't want them to worry but Rowan had a right to know.

"Great. Just… just… wonderful," she sighed. "You be careful… and keep Steve safe too."

Rowan knew Steve didn't listen to anyone. Why the hell was she putting that on him? Still he nodded, said he'd try and then turned to Steve who was pounding down the stairs.

"Kids won't talk to me. Nehele wished me luck though. Grace and Charlie are here too," he said and then looked up from the belt he was buckling to Danny and smiled. "You in the doghouse too?"

"Four Christmases in a row!" Rowan cried from the kitchen causing Steve to roll his eyes. She came out with a traveller's mug for him and his own paper bag.

"Here, for the road," she whispered.

"It's Hawaii, Rowan," he reminded her and she quickly took the mug and the bag away.

"Fine, then go with out them," she snapped.

"No, no, I want them," he said snatching them back from her. "I want them."

Rowan nodded sharply, got up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. "Be safe. Okay. Please?"

"Yes, yes, I'll be careful. I promise," he said to her and then nudged Danny, "Come on."

They were in the car for approximately thirty seconds, Danny couldn't even ask how bad the situation was when Steve suddenly exploded.

"She said I love Hawaii more than her," he cried. "My own, six-year-old daughter. Honestly looked me in the eyes and said… no she shouted… that I love Hawaii more than I love her."

Danny nodded from his spot in the passenger seat. "Well, she definitely has Rowan's flare for the dramatic."

"This isn't funny, Danny," Steve snapped. "She wouldn't even say good-bye to me."

"She's six and her dad, who promised her he wouldn't, left on Christmas day," Danny said. "I think, in a sex-year-old's brain, screaming Daddy loves Hawaii more than me is within the realm of reason."

"Why are you on her side?" Steve snapped.

"Because my 25-year-old, accused me of taking a case to avoid her because I'm unhappy she wants to switch her major for the fourth time and my fifteen-year-old agreed with her," Danny answered and Steve blew out his air in an appreciative huff.

"Wow… some kind of families we got, huh?" Steve said.

"Actually… I think they have every right to be mad. It is Christmas, Steven," Danny reminded him.

"We're not the ones who are trying to set off a bomb on Christmas, Danny," Steve argued.

"Yes, because children understand that," Danny sighed and Steve sighed too. "Don't worry, the kids are with Rowan. I'm sure that if anyone was going to calm them down it's Rowan."

Steve nodded, calmly going back to driving, though his eyebrows were still furrowed with worry. Danny thought about the situation for a beat more and then added: "She could also make it much worse."

Steve groaned and rolled his eyes. "Danny… shut up."

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

Rowan knocked on Nahele's door and indicated for him and Grace to follow her, which they did without asking and led them over to the kid's rooms where Sterling and Charlie were playing a video game and Royal was on her bed with her favourite unicorn plushie frowning into her galaxy print comforter.

"Alright, I know we're all sad and disappointed, but it's Christmas," she told them. "And I think, if we all think together, we can figure out a way to still make it a good one."

Royal glared at her, her pout deeply furrowed on her face. "Daddy promised to stay," she growled.

"Yes, but your dad's job is very important," Rowan reminded her.

"He loves stupid Hawaii more then us. We didn't ask to live here!" she shouted at her.

"Don't raise your voice at me young lady," she snapped. "You dad loves you. He loves you very much. It's why his job is so important to him. Because he wants Hawaii to be a safe place for you to live, to go to school, to go to movies and to play with your friends in the park."

Sterling stood up and crossed to his mother, hugging her tightly and burying his face into her side. "Dad's going to come home right?"

"Of course? Why would you think he wouldn't?" Rowan asked, fear lancing through her. She always worried if a bit of her special abilities had rubbed off on her kids, they hadn't shown signs yet but she wasn't one hundred percent certain.

"Because we always say good bye and good luck and today we didn't," Sterling whispered to him. "What if that means he doesn't have his luck and something bad happens?"

Aww, her poor baby boy, worried about his dad. This was the kind of thing that made Rowan's heart ache, that her children had to shoulder the worry of a parent possibly not coming home. Royal gasped from her spot on the bed. "I didn't think about that," she whispered. She launched off the bed and jumped over to Rowan, grabbing her sweater and jumping up and down. "We need to call Daddy right away, he needs his good luck!"

She let Royal call him but it went straight to voicemail. Both her kids turned their scared eyes up to her.

"He didn't pick up," Royal near sobbed.

"Well, you know what Daddy's like when he has a case, I'm sure he'll call back when he's free," she told them.

"But his luck," Sterling cried. "Dad needs his luck."

"Look, you guys, your dad knows that you love him, even when you yell at him and refuse to say good-bye. But if you're really worried, let's all take a minute and send all our good thoughts and positivity to your dad, all our dads," she said.

She glanced over to the one teenager and the two kids she still couldn't believe were in their twenties who she didn't think would want to. But Grace held Charlie and Nahele's hands and they all squeezed their eyes shut just like Royal and Sterling were, and for a few seconds they all sent their positive vibes to Steve and Danny.

When they were done and their eyes were open, Rowan looked around at everyone. "Alright, shall we go downstairs and open some presents?"

There were a lot of non-committal shrugs and mumbles of I guess so. She had never seen a bunch of children so unexcited to open up presents.

"Alright, what would you rather do?" she asked them.

"I don't want to open my presents until Daddy comes home," Sterling said in a small voice. "We always open presents as a family and he should be here."

Royal and Nahele seconded that and Rowan nodded. The word family stuck with her. "You know what. Let's call your Auntie Rene, I'm sure she, Will and Samantha would love the company," she offered. "What do you guys think about that?"

"Yeah! And then… I don't know, we can plan a party for when they come home," Grace said. "They'd like that. They're always so tired and hungry when they get off a long case. They love to come back to a feast."

"Yeah? You guys up to helping me make all that food?" she asked.

Everyone around nodded and Rowan smiled. "Alright, Nahele and Grace, start looking up recipes you want to make, and if I don't have the ingredients you two can go shopping. Charlie, you and the kids start setting up for a party. I'm going to call Rene and get the Grover family over here. Anyone else you guys want me to invite?"

"Everyone! Invite everyone!" Royal called.

"We'll have to swing by my place to pick up the gifts we haven't opened and our Ugly Christmas sweaters," Grace told Rowan and Rowan nodded.

"I'm sure we'll have time for that. Let's plan this party first."

As every ran off to do their parts Rowan smiled down to her phone. She just might have saved Christmas.

 **H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O**

The bomb had been stopped, but at the expense of Steve's sanity and his head. Steve had realized early in the day that he had missed a call from Rowan, calling back had gotten his voicemail for three fucking hours. This put him into a fully out worry state that had him pacing and extra violent with any suspects he came across.

When he finally did get a hold of Rowan, he found out the call was only because his kids wanted to talk him. To give him good luck. They were busy when he called, apparently they were busy working on some project so he couldn't talk to them right at that moment, but it was nice to hear that he was probably, for the most part, forgiven.

His head was a different story. His head had a bullet glance off it when the cornered terrorists opened fired on him and his team. He refused to let Danny call Rowan and tell her that Steve had to be taken to the hospital to get stitches to stop the bleeding.

Not another Christmas in a hospital. It was the least he could do after taking a case on Christmas when he said he wouldn't.

But when he got out of the back room the ER doctor had taken him into he found Danny on the phone and figured Danny had sold him out.

"Rowan says to come home right away," he said. "She has a surprise for us apparently."

Well, that wasn't good… was it? Danny got to drive, Steve having a head injury and all. But he got Steve home pretty quickly, not as fast as he would have wanted but he didn't complain. They walked up to his house. Why weren't the lights on? Why were there no lights?

Steve pushed past Danny to throw open the door and rush inside. He wanted to see his kids, he wanted to see his wife. What he found was his whole Family.

The whole Five-0 family. Grover and his family. Duke and his family. Grace, Charlie and their Uncle Eric. Junior and Tani. Noelani, Kamekona and Flipper. And of course, Rowan, Nahele, Stirling and Royal. And everyone was wearing ugly Christmas sweaters.

"Merry Christmas," was shouted at them by everyone, except for Royal who simply cried out: "Daddy," and ran at him.

Steve stooped down to pick her up and hold her close. "I know you don't love Hawaii more then me," she whispered and the tears jumped into his eyes. Sterling was next, waiting patiently for his father to put Royal down and then pick him up. He was getting bigger, and therefore harder for him to pick up, but today that didn't matter. He picked up his son and held him closely.

"We saved all the presents," he said. "So, we can open them together. You have to open mine first."

Steve laughed, said: "Of course," and put his son down. Rowan, who had been approaching him with a smile, frowned when she got close enough, her eyes zeroing in on the stitches that lanced up into his hairline and had not had gauze to cover them.

"Oh!" Rowan cried out in horror and Steve sighed. "Your head!"

"It's fine. I'm fine," he said, but that didn't stop her from clapping her hands to his cheeks and pulling him down so she could inspect the stitches he really should have let them tape up. He whispered softly this time: "I'm fine, really."

But her scowl said that she didn't believe him. He'd get it later. The only thing saving him right now was the fact that everyone was already at their house. Still she forced that smile back onto her face and turned back to the people waiting.

"Alright, one round of gifts and then food," she said.

Oh, it was a full party, she had made a Christmas turkey, he could smell it. This was everything he could have wished for and more. He and Danny were handed their Christmas sweaters, and the two went upstairs to get freshened up. He didn't have to ask Danny if things were okay between he and Grace, the smile said that they were. Just like Danny didn't have to ask if things had gotten settled between Steve and his kids.

When they got back down the stairs, Danny went to where Grace and Charlie were waiting and Steve dropped his weary bones down beside Rowan, slung an arm over her shoulders and then caught his daughter as she threw her small body onto his lap. Every the calm and polite Sterling sat himself down beside him carefully and handed him the gift he wanted Steve to open. Steve knew Sterling hated it but he did it anyway, ruffled his child's hair until it was messy and unkempt and he was moaning out a complaint shaped in the word: _Dad._

Rowan smiled to all everyone present and said: "Okay everyone, have we all got a present?" When everyone said yes she shot a smile up to Steve and cried: "Okay, everyone _open_!"

There was a flurry of paper being ripped apart, of tissue paper being thrown up in the air and bows and ribbons being tossed across the room while children giggled and adults squealed. Steve paused unwrapping the gift that Rowan had bought for Sterling to put his name on and looked around.

This was what he needed. His family. His children. His wife. Looking around there was nothing more he could ask for. This was the ultimate gift. He was truly the luckiest man alive

 **Xx End**

* * *

 _So this is the last chapter. What did you guys think? Did you like it? Oh I hope so? Did you have a favouite part? A favourite Chapter? Please tell me which one you liked. How about the future? Did you like where I'm trying to get the story to end up? See! Totally gonna be worth all the drama I put you through! See you guys on my next update on Friday!_


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